NH Foods logged sales of $11.2bn last year, of which 17% was from its overseas operations. Lay Hong, meanwhile, is one of Malaysia’s biggest poultry manufacturers, with annual production of 500m table eggs and 30,000 metric tons of broiler meat.

It said the NHF Manufacturing joint-venture had marked a major step forward in the form of new product development and market penetration.

“We are now reviewing strategies and will capitalise on the strength of NH Foods to take it to greater heights,” Lay Hong said in a statement, adding that response to the initial range of five meat products has been encouraging.

A piece of industrial land in the Selangor Halal Hub, near to Kuala Lumpur’s main ports, has been identified for the plant.

Under its export strategy, the Malaysian unit will also produce halal-certified ready-to-eat chilled foods, including meat balls, burgers and omelettes.

The new factory will also produce easy-to-cook vegetables and other Chinese foods, including dim sum.

The unit hopes to export about 40% of its produce to Singapore, Japan and the Middle East.